Functional structure of ant and termite assemblages in old growth forest, logged forest and oil palm plantation in Malaysian Borneo

Sarah H. Luke1,2,*, Tom M. Fayle3,4, Paul Eggleton5, Edgar C. Turner2,4and Richard G. Davies1

1School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

2Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK

3Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, and Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Academy of Sciences Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic

4Forest Ecology and Conservation Research Group, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK

5The Soil Biodiversity Group, Life Sciences Department, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW6 5BD, UK

*Corresponding author:

Email: ; Tel: +44(0)1223 331768; Fax: None

Keywords:feeding groups, Formicidae, functional groups, habitat disturbance, logging, SAFE Project, Termitoidae

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Fig S1Map showing the location of SAFE Project survey points (black circles) used in this study. The main map shows locations of logged forest (green) and oil palm (white) sites within the area managed by Benta Wawasan, whilst the inset shows locations of old growth forest areas (blue) at Maliau. Diagrams reproduced and edited with kind permission of RM Ewers

Table S1 SAFE Project standardised scale for assessing forest quality

Forest type / Forest quality / Description of vegetation in area immediately around survey point
0 / Oil palm / Oil palm
1 / Very poor / No trees- open canopy with ginger/vines or low scrub
2 / Poor / Open with occasional small trees over ginger/vine layer
3 / OK / Small trees fairly abundant/canopy at least partially closed
4 / Good / Lots of trees, some large, canopy closed
5 / Very good / Closed canopy with large trees, no evidence of logging

Table S2 Mean occurrenceand genus richness of ants and termites in pits and dead wood, across habitat types

Mean values per quadrat
Ants / Termites
Habitat type / Genus richness / Occurrence / Genus richness / Occurrence
Pits / OP / 7.78 / 17.89 / 0.44 / 0.67
LF / 9.50 / 21.78 / 1.35 / 1.63
OG / 7.78 / 15.00 / 4.00 / 5.78
Dead wood / OP / 0.89 / 1.00 / 0.11 / 0.13
LF / 1.75 / 2.55 / 0.19 / 0.22
OG / 1.33 / 1.50 / 0.72 / 0.78
Pits and dead wood / OP / 8.11 / 18.78 / 0.56 / 0.78
LF / 10.22 / 24.25 / 1.53 / 1.84
OG / 8.50 / 16.50 / 4.50 / 6.50

Table S3 Full results of Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon rank sum tests assessing differences in abundances of ant and termite functional groups between habitat types. Results shown in bold were significant after sequential Bonferroni correction. Results in italics were not significant after Bonferroni correction (using P=0.05/3=0.017) but were significant at the P=0.05 level. Results in normal text were not significant at either level

Ant/
termite group / Kruskal-Wallis / Wilcoxon rank sum
Chi-square / df / P / OG-LF / OG-OP / LF-OP
W / P / W / P / W / P
All ants / 10.7208 / 2 / 0.004699 / 134.5 / 0.001949 / 71 / 0.6228 / 202.5 / 0.0671
C / 7.167 / 2 / 0.02778 / 155.5 / 0.007392 / 59 / 0.2636 / 168.5 / 0.4485
DD / 11.306 / 2 / 0.003507 / 288 / NA / 63 / 0.04737 / 112 / 0.00785
GM / 4.8371 / 2 / 0.08905 / 318.5 / 0.542 / 122 / 0.03606 / 202.5 / 0.06495
TCS / 8.3806 / 2 / 0.01514 / 166 / 0.01361 / 101.5 / 0.2971 / 208 / 0.04431
HCS / 0.5706 / 2 / 0.7518 / 286 / 0.9413 / 85.5 / 0.5297 / 153 / 0.4732
O / 7.2408 / 2 / 0.02677 / 251 / 0.4536 / 31 / 0.009958 / 73 / 0.02465
SC / 1.1219 / 2 / 0.5707 / 336 / 0.2870 / 88 / 0.7186 / 135 / 0.7624
SP / 4.0548 / 2 / 0.1317 / 355.5 / 0.16 / 114.5 / 0.07934 / 178 / 0.2679
All termites / 17.657 / 2 / 0.0001465 / 465.5 / 0.0002962 / 142.5 / 0.001433 / 192.5 / 0.1184
Group I / 3.8257 / 2 / 0.1477 / 352 / 0.1117 / 106 / 0.1312 / 158 / 0.5383
Group II / 7.7693 / 2 / 0.02056 / 381 / 0.03583 / 121 / 0.02214 / 178.5 / 0.1779
Group IIF / 6.4471 / 2 / 0.03981 / 385.5 / 0.01279 / 102 / 0.2302 / 134 / 0.6477
Group III / 21.559 / 2 / 0.00002082 / 473.5 / 0.00006989 / 146 / 0.0005686 / 180 / 0.1627
Group IV / 2.2778 / 2 / 0.3202 / 304 / 0.1965 / 85.5 / 0.5297 / 144 / NA

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